The Escapades of Apartment 4A (Part 4)
by StudioGhibliGirl
Summary: Sheldon's grasping at straws for reasons he shouldn't feel what he does for Penny, can he find advice from unlikely sources? (reuploaded)


The Escapades of Apartment 4A, Continued! (Part 4)

"The Complex Conundrum"

Shenny, (moderate) T

(AN; Thanks for patiently waiting for the reupload! I was off licking my wounds after the last update...THIS IS A FIXED VERSION OF THIS CHAPTER! There was a very prominent mistake in the last one! I need to stop those 4 o clock in the morning updates...as consolation, Tiny Spock is in this chapter! X3)

Once Leonard, Howard, and Raj got back, things fell apart faster than a prom with spiked punch. All three newcomers were fixated on Penny's current state of dress, Penny knew she was (metaphorically) screwed as they stared at her, Sheldon's previous question left unanswered in the awkward silence. "...Is that my shirt?" Leonard asked as casually as he could. Penny nodded, tugging the hem down a bit. Leonard looked confused but didn't say anything more. Howard, on the other hand, had a look on his face more gleeful than the time he had found out Penny's sex-life had been on a blog posted by her ex. That's to say, his actions would no doubt be billions of times more lecherous than usual. Raj just stood mute next to them, blushing. "Ahem, like I said, I trust everything went well?" Sheldon said. "Yeah, turns out Priya's parents were exhausted from the trip here and I didn't have to see them...um, funny how things work out!" Sheldon looked highly annoyed . "I don't appreciate you leaving me at the bar with her then, if it was all for naught!" Leonard sighed, knowing he'd catch hell about this incident for weeks to come. Penny interrupted Sheldon's tirade, saving everyone from the full brunt of his displeasure. "Howard, how was your evening with Raj?" Howard sighed. "Hacking into the Miss America pageant security cams turned out to be a bust..." Penny had a look of mock-sadness. "Well darn, isn't that a shame!" she said sarcastically. Howard smiled wolfishly. "I think this makes up for it, honey!" he said, eyeing Penny's shirt. Penny saw where his eyes were wandering. "Well, I'm gonna go now!" she said, flustered. Grabbing her purse and clothes fresh from the dryer, Penny exited the apartment quickly to her own across the hall. "...I say we lick our wounds in light of our defeat at visually scoring and eat some of that Thai food!" Raj said. "Motion seconded," Howard huffed and they opened the Tandoori Palace bag Leonard had brought.

Sheldon chewed his tangerine chicken thoughtfully, half listening to the chatter of his friends around him. His thoughts still dwelled on Penny, he wonder if their relationship was any different now. After all, this debacle proved in at least a small way, that Sheldon was physically attracted to his blonde cohort. Then again, the same could be said for the rest of his friends, but Sheldon couldn't exactly put himself on their level, as they had been pursuing her in a dogged fashion since the day each had met her. Sheldon piped up, hoping his associates could offer some meager counsel. "What would you say my relationship with Penny is?" 6 pairs of surprised retinas looked back at him. "Huh?...you guys are friends, right?" Howard asked. Sheldon, seeing no other way to put it, nodded. "Yes, I suppose we are." Raj, who had been silent on the topic, spoke up. "I think he's referring to the slight mother-son vibe we've always gotten from those two. Sheldon is much like her child, he depends on her for things most adults can suffice without and she in turn is compelled to help him as he awakes some kind of nurturing instinct within her." Leonard smirked. "Look who could've a psych major, Raj!" he chuckled. Sheldon, on the other hand, looked flabbergasted. "That changes things..." he mumbled under his breath and stood, putting up his tray of food. He excused himself quickly and shuffled off to his room. When he had exited, Leonard spoke. "There's something up with him, isn't there?" Howard snorted. "This is Sheldon we're talking about here! I'm not even sure if he has a type of behavior that can be classified on a scale of normal."

"Eh, fair enough." Raj said, and they put Sheldon out of their minds once more.

Sheldon was thoroughly stumped. And it takes a hell of a lot to make Dr. Sheldon Lee Cooper stumped in any way. He scanned the Wikipedia article once more, sighing. "Darned Freud..." he muttered. The page he had open, information on Sigmund Freud's Oedipus Complex Hypothesis, was another waste of time, it offered no help to his current dilemma. He shut the laptop in frustration. Raj's comment of his relationship with Penny being more akin to a mother-son one was eating away at him for some reason, like Leonard's stomach lining after an ice-cream cone. It wasn't like he was considering a one sided romantic pursuit of his close friend, but at the same time such a platonic label stuck some kind of a nerve within him. Especially considering his body reacted to her in such a troubling, (presumably incestuous, according to Koothrapali) way, even if his mind didn't quite. Sheldon groaned. These new feelings he was experiencing perplexed him to no end, and no fact, formula or hypothesis could properly explain them, much to his dismay.

Sheldon's eyes wandered to a device lying next to his keyboard, an idea struck him. Grabbing the cellphone hastily, he fingered the correct digits on the keypad and waited as it dialed, seemingly for ages. Finally, the other end picked up, on the 4th ring. There was loud music and laughter in the background, she was probably out at the moment. "Hello...are you there, Missy?" "Uh, yeah Sheldon? Why are you calling me?" There was prominent confusion in her tone. Sheldon sighed. "I needed advice...my other top 6 choices are all occupied or the cause of the issue to begin with..." Missy took a second to smirk. "I feel so special then! Glad I'm your sixth go-to advice gal!" Sheldon paused. "...That's sarcasm, right?" Missy sighed in resignation. "Sheldon, get to the point!" "Fine Missy...I was wondering, what should I do if I find I have an attraction to my proxy mother?" Missy had not had nearly enough foresight and had chosen that moment to take a drink of her beer, doing a spit take and spraying the substance on an unfortunate friend. "UM, WHAT?!" she shouted over the din of the club. "You didn't hear what I said?" Sheldon asked, annoyance creeping into his tone. "Sheldon, it's what you said..." There was a long pause as Sheldon went through possible reasons for her dismay. "...You know the definition of proxy, correct?" It was Missy's turn to pause. Sheldon rolled his eyes. "It means I find someone who feels the need to act like a mother figure to me attractive, though she is of an age reasonably near my own." Missy exhaled with relief. "Oooooh...you really should've just said that!" Sheldon was about to protest that he did, in fact say that, in fewer words, but decided against it. "Well, Sheldon...if it's advice you want, and you seem to like this girl, in your own weird way, because the Sheldon I know would never go this far to figure out his feelings...I'd go for it!" Sheldon cocked his head to one side. "What is that supposed to mean? Go for it?" he asked. Suddenly, he heard Missy give an excited whoop. "Yeah! They're playing my song! Sorry, gotta go, hope I helped!" With that, she hung up. Sheldon sighed and leaned back in his chair. He casually tossed his phone back on the desk, accidentally knocking something over in the process. Startled, he picked up the object in question, his Spock action figure. "Tiny Spock," he mumbled, "Is it possible you can offer consul?" A loud knock on the door interrupted him. "To be continued..." he said and set Tiny Spock down, standing. Walking over, Sheldon opened it to find Raj and Howard in the hallway outside his door. "Hey...can we use your computer?" Howard asked. Sheldon gave him a withering look, but soon caved to the begging, pestering, and puppy dog eyes of both. Walking back to the living room with a victorious expression and the laptop under his arm, Howard set it on the desk and turned to Raj. "Operation Miss America Cam Hack, second try, go!" Raj smirked. We seriously need a shorter name for that." he commented. Howard rolled his eyes. "Enough chitchat, let's go," he said, and they set to work on their newest "foolproof" scheme.

(Whew! Done with another update! Please R&R! And leave me ideas for future chapters!)


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